Poker & Duplicity
by High Echo
Summary: Before Holmes, there was Lupin...
1. You Broken, Miserable Lovers

_**#1**_

 _ **You Broken, Miserable Lovers**_

* * *

 **Characters:** Kuroba Kaito, Mouri Ran

 **Pairings:** Kaito/Ran (KaiRan), implied Kaito/Aoko (KaiAo) and Shinichi/Ran (ShinRan)

 **Theme:** Misery, comfort, longing

 **Rated:** T

 **Summary:** He can't- he won't think. He only does what he can when his mind is consumed by grief. The Thief dons the clothes of the Detective and goes to Her arms.

* * *

Misery likes company.

Or so they like to say.

When he gazes at Mouri Ran, he honestly can't tell. She looks so _damned_ happy to see him.

"Shinichi," she breathes and she's so like Aoko that it hurts.

His hands automatically reach around her frame to return the hug she has engaged him in. Breathing in the scent she gives off, but _isn't_ quite what he wants to breathe in that moment, he forces himself to numb his senses and live in the moment.

 _'Aoko…'_

Kaito doesn't do much of anything except hang on and take advantage of this mask. He hadn't even processed the fact that he was in Kudou's uniform before he was already in the presence of the detective's love interest. He's just _that_ lost.

A small part of him predicts that a certain someone will track him down in the morning for raising the girl's hopes like this. He isn't Shinichi and he'll never be. But for once, he just can't bring himself to care.

She is so similar, so freaking similar and he can't- he can't handle thinking right now.

The comfort… he needs it. He can't breathe without it. Or he will sink to the pits of Hell and never come back in one piece.

His mind is still reeling back in shock. Soon- so very soon, by his best estimates- murderous thoughts will replace the tide wave of sorrow that threatens to overwhelm him.

Because he _lost_ Aoko. To Snake.

That stupid sniper shot her instead of him and he still remembers the bloody stain growing- no, draining her as her life was quenched so savagely in front of him.

What's worse, her eyes were wide in shock, not understanding… _why. Why she had to die?_

"Ran," he says- sobs- rasps. Kaito clutches at her clothes tightly. The girl that isn't Aoko, but is all he has now. A nearly flawless spitting image... nothing more, nothing less. Ran isn't Aoko, no matter how much he wishes for the illusion to be real.

 _'Not her._ She _is not_ her,' he stresses.

She hugs him back and lets him cry on her shoulder.

"Let it all out," she says.

.

It is a one time deal. The infamous thief steals the girl for just one day.

Just for one day...

 _'Let me be-'_ He is Shinichi.

Not Kaito.

* * *

 **A/N:** A drabble... thing. I ship these two so friggin' much. You have no idea.

Words of caution: I **love** this crack ship and it's my job to do everything in my power to make you love it too. I don't see it anywhere and I just want to post things like this.


	2. Before Holmes, There Was Lupin

_**#2**_

 **Before Holmes, There Was Lupin**

* * *

 **Characters:** Ran, Shinichi, Aoko, Kaito

 **Pairings:** Shinichi/Ran (ShinRan)

 **Theme:** Supernatural, Memories, Reincarnation

 **Rated:** T

 **Summary:** Ran keeps having strange dreams... Why now? And why would they affect them?

* * *

 _"_ _Fish?" She was incredulous at best, but was mostly embarrassed for her best friend, because he wasn't about to feel sorry for himself._ "That's _what you are afraid of?_ Seriously?"

 _"_ _Shut up!" the boy snapped. But then he went and pouted cutely at her; his scowl made him seem more obnoxious than normal. "It's not like you're any better, thinking that stupid things like ghosts exist- what a stupid belief! 'Are you here, Hanako-san? Hanako-san?'" He did a cheap imitation of her voice and skillfully arranged for his face to appear dead scared of something that definitely wasn't in the room with them. "Knock, knock! Call her three times in a row and then, just like that, a little girl in a red dress appears inside a stall." He smirked impishly at her red cheeks. "Or so the story goes, of course. Figures that you'd be the only one to believe that!"_

 _Aoko flushed angrily and smacked him on the head. "Now who's being stupid, eh? You are going to get Hanako-san angry with you and then she'll dunk your head down the toilet the next time you go!"_

 _"_ _Keh, you're really naïve, aren't ya?" He snickered._

 _Aoko threatened him with bodily harm via a shaking fist. "Do you want me to hit you again?" she asked darkly._

 _Kaito stuck his tongue out and made monkey faces at her, before dodging. She remembered taking out her mop and aiming at his stupid head._

 _Only to miss miserably. Of course. Stupid Kaito._

 _The arrogant magician was now attached to a high position on a wall. Unfortunately, high enough to be out of her range. And even there, his playful grin was sickening. "Hey, Ahoko!" he called down. "That wasn't very cute of you, you know? You should totally give up chasing me one of these days, lest you want your gender to be compromised!"_

 _Aoko_ twitched.

"BAKAITO!" _She lunged._

.

Ran blinked blearily at the blackboard and blinked again. The numbers were a blur and they swam incoherently in her head. Try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to concentrate.

"Hey," Sonoko leaned over. She shot her a worried look. "Have you slept at all, Ran? You look about to fall over."

"Not too much," she admitted in a murmur. She wanted nothing more than drop her head on her desk and sleep the day away. Anything to get some reprieve from this class. Math wasn't one of her favorites in a normal day. Now, with this killer headache, it was _torture._ "I keep getting these nightmares, you see…"

"What about?"

Ran winced and rubbed her temples. "A boy named Kaito," she said softly, almost like she was afraid of saying his name. "He has Shinichi's face…" _But he has no cowlick and he's a total idiot magician with too many roses and doves shoved inside his clothes- and how does one can cram so many things in there? That idiot! He shouldn't be able to bend the laws of physics so easily!_

Ran blinked again. That tinge of frustration had come from nowhere.

"Ah!" Sonoko smirked winningly. Typical Sonoko, she cupped her hand around her mouth to tease her. "So you are dreaming of your husband?"

But the Suzuki heiress immediately dropped the act when Ran didn't blush or deny her taunts; instead, she watched in shock as the martial artist's skin drained more and more of color until there was nothing left.

"Hey, hey! Whatever it was, I'm sure it will be okay!" she exclaimed.

Ran smiled weakly and nodded. "Thank you," she said and left it there.

Sonoko bit her lip unsurely. For the rest of the class, she kept glancing at Ran, always on the verge of saying something, but not really saying anything.

Ran, on the other hand, was oblivious to her worry. Her mind kept replaying a scene from her dream over and over on automatic and the feeling of dread in her gut increased ever so slightly each time she saw him fall to the ground.

 _Kaitou KID jumped in front of her just as the gun went off._

.

"Ne, Shinichi?" Ran asked her childhood friend that afternoon.

Shinichi looked up from his ball. He had been bouncing it with his legs as they as they made their way back from school.

"Yeah?"

"What would you do if, hypothetically, remembered another life?" she asked quietly.

"Huh?" Shinichi lost control of his ball and it bounced off his leg in an awkward position, sending it several metres ahead from them. Shinichi didn't pay attention to his blunder, focusing his attention on his childhood friend. Whatever he had expected from her, this wasn't it.

"I've dreamed about this boy more times that I care to count," she confessed to him. "Back when we were little, it wasn't so harsh. But now… Things have gone a little twisted and I am always worried about what I see. Because… if it is real, then that means that he really died. He…" _Kaitou KID jumped in front of her just as the gun went off._ Ran gulped down a knot in her throat. "But, if… if it is a dream, then I don't have a clue of what it could mean for my mental state." She let out a shuddering sigh and her eyes were a little too misty for comfort. Ran fought to keep her voice steady, but she did not succeed. Her voice still wavered with emotion. "People don't dream about others dying every night, right? That can't be normal…"

"Ran…" Shinichi murmured.

Ran closed her eyes and hugged herself tightly. "I'm scared I'm losing my mind over this, but I can't seem to ignore what happens in my dreams. It feels too real, I feel I'm actually there- and if it isn't a dream then-" _Then what is it?_ Ran hid her face as she began to sob. She felt ridiculous, overreacting over nothing- a silly, silly nightmare even. Like a crybaby.

A hand dropped on her shoulder, making her freeze instantly.

"Hey," Shinichi said softly. Ran met his sympathetic eyes from behind her hands. "You know how I solve cases all the time, right? Death is not a pretty thing. It bothers me too, to be surrounded by so many corpses in my life. I wouldn't be surprised if you got scared by something you saw when you were with me and it got stuck in your mind. I was kinda worried why you seemed to take it all in stride, but now I understand why."

"But-" Ran stuttered. "You never told me of any nightmares!"

"I talk with my dad and mom," he uttered quietly, like he was confessing a great grievance. "Luckily, I've never needed to see a psychologist, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm human." Shinichi looked at her. "Like you, even I have a limit."

"Sorry," Ran lowered her gaze to the concrete at her feet. She had her hands fisted in two pale blocks of shame hanging by her sides. "I… I never noticed anything... I-"

"Don't trouble your pretty head over it," he said seriously. "Besides, I never told you anything because I didn't want to trouble you in the first place."

Ran huffed and dabbed at her wet eyes angrily. "Baka! It's practically my job to worry about you! Honestly, you really _are_ an idiot!"

"O-oi! Isn't that a little extreme?" Shinichi sputtered and backed up.

Ran glared and shook her head angrily. "Rushing without thinking and confronting criminals directly…! It's normal for me to worry! What if you got shot? What if you died during a case, huh? What then? How am I supposed to deal with that?" The answer was simple:

 _You don't._

Ran froze, alarm written all over her face.

Shinichi, who was close to her, noticed the change in her body language. "Oi, Ran…"

 _'What is this feeling?'_ Ran rubbed her arms uneasily and shivered. Her eyes roamed about the place they stood, no longer feeling comfortable in the middle of the park.

 _He wore black. The man who held Aoko hostage._

 _The man who killed Kaito with that gun._

 _He went by the name of Snake._

Ran looked at Shinichi with wide eyes. He met her own with a shocked look of his own. It was a perfect replica of Kaito's face.

The facts were all over the place. Ran looked just like Aoko herself.

 _'Don't tell me-? Shinichi-'_

Ran didn't know what to think. She reached over and grabbed him by the arm. Dragging him along in a brisk walk, she ignored his cries of confusion and even ignored the ball he had brought with him that day as they passed it. He had enough of them at home. What was one less ball to a soccer fanatic like Shinichi? Her jaw was locked with determination and fear.

.

"Hey, wanna tell me what was that about?" Shinichi asked in irritation, rubbing his bruised arm and wincing when his fingers met a sore spot.

Ran was on the couch, thinking quietly and going over what she knew. She had relaxed her guard considerably the moment they went into his house.

Shinichi sighed.

"Is this about the dream?" he asked. "Because if you want to talk about it, this is the perfect time to do it."

Hearing him, Ran looked up and squinted at his face very intently.

The way she was acting was very strange. Was it any wonder that he felt so self-conscious? "W-what? What is it? Is there something wrong with my face?" Shinichi stammered, much to his embarrassment.

The young martial artist looked momentarily troubled before her face smoothed out.

"You don't know any criminal organizations whose standard attire is all black, do you?" Ran asked him.

"No… Not really…" Shinichi said truthfully and more than a little confused.

"Good," Ran nodded decisively, as if that solved anything.

His detective instincts were tingling... "Why are you asking?"

"Because…" Ran began lowly before swallowing. She gathered herself quickly enough, though. Her face was terrifying, even though he suspected that the expression wasn't for him. "Because... If you ever see anyone who looks suspicious and matches that description, I want you to turn tail and run."

* * *

 **A/N:** AU where Kaito and Aoko lived before Ran and Shinichi. And yes, they both died.

Poor Ran. The memories slap her in the face. I feel so sorry for her XD


End file.
